At last nights Sony conference/presentation, Sony laid out the dual sku pricing for the new PS3.  $499 for a 20GB HDD version, and $599 for a 60GB HDD.  Well... being the cheap bastards that we are at 360-Deals, we thought we'd throw out our opinion on the PS3 launch price proposed. 

Timing:   

We think it is interesting that Sony has already set the price at such an early point in the launch of the console.  Microsoft kept the price of the Xbox 360 fairly close to its chest (late in 2005 - not at e3 last year), for maximum flexibility and competitive reasons.  Why did Sony choose to announce the price so far in advance?  Obviously, one reason is so that consumers will be able to stomach the price and start saving their pennies...  Perhaps Sony did some market research that showed that the initial price shock would take a good 6 months to get over...  Another theory is that Sony is ready to punk us come Christmas time...  While all the Sony fan boys complain and whine about the price points, Sony cleverly switches the price at the last moment to (gasp!) the same price as the Xbox 360!!!  This is a trick that Nintendo used with the Nintendo 64 launch way back in the day...  Being how it is really tough to take Sony's word on anything, this theory will be alive and well until the day and date of the launch.  Another reason/theory is that Sony is clearly dictating that all Blu-ray manufacturers had better get their costs down by the end of the year.  If not they will have no chance to sell significant units against the mighty Sony trojan horse.  Stand alone Blu-ray players are projected to initially cost well over $1000 come their launch (which keeps getting pushed back... back... back...). 

Dual SKU:

Well, certainly the theme from this years Sony press conference should have been - "borrowed ideas"...  Included in this years list of "borrowed ideas" comes the dual sku launch of the PS3.  It is readily apparent that Sony really wants everyone to purchase the $599 version, yet wanted to remain somewhat competitive with both Microsoft and to a lesser extent, Nintendo.  The $499 20GB HDD version is now confirmed to be missing a few components (WiFi, HDMI, etc.) built into the box.  Guess what fan boys, without HDMI the $399 does not support true High Definition (1080p) as trumpeted by Phil Harrison of Sony.  In addition, you have no way of upgrading post-purchase!!!  Now the Xbox 360 Core model (tard box) has an even slower in-bred cousin (damn, that was harsh!).  Apparently, Sony felt the need to strip out some of these pieces to get the hardware cost somewhat in line...  In general though, Sony is making a hell of a gamble with the Blu-Ray drive.  Microsoft has significant pricing advantage because of this.  I still don't think that mass consumers will flock to either HD-DVD or Blu-ray.  It is not the same major step from VHS to DVD.  DVD had significant intangible benefits like, no rewinding, and was more compact.  Movie studios flocked to it because of cheap manufacturing costs...  Sony picked the wrong battle IMO...

We'll leave this opinion on the PS3 with a couple final thoughts...  Even at $599, Sony knows that every single system in the initial 3 million unit launch batch will be snatched up...  Perhaps a new industry will be born out of this launch - Console Mortgages....  Get your PS3 with a 5/1 ARCM (Adjustable Rate Console Mortgage)...

What are your thoughts...  post them in the 360-Deals forums...